• November 14 – Board Meeting
• November 17 – RumFish & Vino
• November 24 – Dark
• December 1 – Poinsettia Delivery
• December 15 – Christmas party at Bill Gray’s house.

My wife and I are nomads.  We sold our house, cars, and most of our personal belongings, and we live our lives traveling and seeing the world.  Eventually we will settle in either one place or do a rotation of a few select places, but for now, we move every 2-4 weeks. We are not on vacation!  We live our lives while traveling the world.  This requires a different mindset; we need to maintain an annual budget and not spend lavishly, as one may while on a vacation. We created a sustainable budget and we stick to it.  This allows us to fulfill our desire to travel wherever we choose.

We live in 1 or 2 bedroom furnished apartments with a kitchen, a washer, free WiFi, and a view of the ocean, or the mountains or the old city center; the view changes whenever we want.

We use various methods of transportation.  Since we sold our cars, we are no longer burdened with the cost or responsibility of maintaining said cars, so we are free to take trains, planes or rental cars to reach our next destination.  We have used ferries, bicycles, water taxis, regular taxis, ride shares, buses, and of course our own two feet.  But this is the first time we have used a cruise ship for transportation.

And it won’t be the last time.

We wanted to transfer from Europe to North America.  The most expedient way was to fly.  Flying is quick, but certainly not easy, and chock full of stress and worries.  Between missed connections, to Covid-19 related restrictions, to the opportunity to lose our baggage, to just waiting in airports, flying is not fun.  And there is virtually nothing to see when we fly.  In our lifestyle, time is not an issue.

Being on board a ship, there is the ocean views and various ports of call we can explore and/or rediscover.  It is certainly slower, but as nomads, our ongoing expenses are places to stay, transportation, food and entertainment.  Plus tourist activities.  Again, time is not a consideration for us.  The ship itself satisfies our transportation needs as we move from one continent to another, there is a never-ending supply of food, and there is entertainment, all built into the cost of the cruise.  In the ports of call, we have the opportunity to be tourists and satisfy the craving to see new places.

As a means of transportation, cruise ships are ideal.  It is definitely a slower mode of travel, yet the journey is often more interesting than the destination.  But isn’t cruising expensive?  Yes and no.

Generally speaking, cruise ships are an expensive commitment, typically used as a vacation destination. cruise ships attract the clientele who want to travel in comfort and luxury, both of which cost money; often a great deal of money.  Going on a cruise ship is a way to pamper yourself.  Some cruise ships even provide your own personal butler while on board.  There are spas and fitness centers, amusement parks, water slides, overhead rope obstacle courses, theaters, a casino, excursions, promenades, shopping malls, bars and restaurants all onboard.  Lots of bars and restaurants.  And most people who travel on cruise ships do so for the luxury and to visit places they normally never would.  That accounts for about 99% of cruisers.

Nomads are most definitely in the 1% of travelers.  Nomads are no longer satisfied living in one place and striking out on two-week adventures. Nomads yearn to live a lifestyle composed of travel and exploration.  We can’t really explore much when we stay at home 50 weeks out of the year, so we choose to nomad.  We are also cost conscious.  Maintaining a budget is extremely important as it is very easy to go overboard (pun intended) on travel spending; especially on board a cruise ship.

Nomads search for ways to legally and morally hack the travel industry.  How can we modify the existing resources to our advantage? Using credit card mileage reward points, loyalty clubs, travel price alerts and dynamic pricing all can be used to our advantage.  Off season travel, early bird dining, matinee performances, and travel passes help us to live the life of our dreams while living within our means. Being nomads allows us the time to be flexible in our travel and entertainment planning.

But how can we use expensive cruise ships to expedite our travel while maintaining our budget?  There is a special kind of cruise known as a Repositioning Cruise.  Let me explain:

Cruise ships operate where tourists want to travel.  They thrive on having a ship full of passengers to get the most value out of their operations, their employees and their resources.  Cruise ships with thousands of passengers on board make for profitable enterprises.

But not many tourists want to cruise, or travel in general, during winter months, except where winter is warm and gentle.  For example: In the Mediterranean, there are hundreds of cruise ships operating during the spring, summer and autumn months.  But in winter months, it is difficult to get bookings, so many cruise ships would be dormant.  It is cost prohibitive for any company to have a multi-billion dollar cruise ship sit empty in a port somewhere.  The ship is designed to be on the move with a full compliment of passengers.  So, how does the cruise company solve this problem?  They move the ship to a place where passengers DO want to travel.  During the winter months people love to go to the Caribbean.  So the ship transfers from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. 

But the ship still has to buy fuel and water and food for its employees and crew.  All the food and supplies are still there.  The entertainment services are there.  Why not have passengers on board as well?  But who wants to travel across the ocean for several days with no, or very few, ports of call?  There are certainly some seasoned travelers who appreciate the comforts of the ship and are not interested in going ashore.  And there are passengers whose primary concern is transferring from one continent to another.  Such as Nomads.

As nomads, we can utilize a repositioning cruise to transfer from Europe to North America. Or from North America to Asia, Australia or South America.  Or just back to Europe in the springtime.  It is an absolute fact that there are fewer passengers onboard a reposition cruise.  What happens in every industry when the supply outweighs the demand?  The price of the product drops, that’s what.

The cruise ship that has only 1/4 to 1/3 of the usual number of passengers will drop the price of the cruise to attract more passengers.  The cruise ship’s costs are mostly fixed; the more passengers they can attract, the higher their profits are. In the case of repositioning cruises, the losses will be lower if they can attract more passengers.  So, the prices are lowered for repositioning cruises.  Significantly.

Case in point:  We recently used a 19-day MSC repositioning cruise to transfer from Marseilles, France to Orlando, Florida.  Normally a 7-day cruise would set us back $5-10,000 total. But this MSC cruise had a bargain basement price of $499 per person for the entire 19 days.  That comes to slightly less than $1000 for the two of us.  Of course there are other expenses to add in.

Getting to the cruise ship is the first expense.  We had to get ourselves to Marseille, France.  As nomads, that didn’t incur any different expenses, we merely had to point ourselves in that direction. 

We determined that we didn’t want to stay in an inside cabin (the bargain basement offering), so we upgraded to a balcony suite for $1500 per person, so that brought us to $3,000.  Then there are other expenses to be factored in. Since I am still working, it was important to have an internet connection. so I purchased the onboard internet accessibility.  That cost is $245 for one device.  Ugh!!!  Onboard the cruise ship, the download speed is equivalent to dial up.  Well, not quite that bad.  But it is still slow and unreliable, particularly in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  Dear Elon Musk, Fix this!

There are some entertainment events and specialty restaurants for which MSC charges a premium. We chose not to indulge in those options.

We spent some money in the spa for massages and a haircut.  The prices were what we would expect to pay in the United States, so we didn’t concern ourselves and spent the money to pamper ourselves.

We spent all our “extra expense budget” money on the premium charge for gelato. This ship has a fabulous gelato store.  For those who don’t know what gelato is, it’s time to crawl out from under your rock.  Gelato is ice cream made from milk, instead of cream.  Lower milk fats, less calories, and more delicious. We each had a scoop of gelato every day.  And the scoops were quite generous.  Good thing there’s a free fitness center onboard.

Our total expenditure, before gratuities was $3800.  Add in the gratuity of $570 (cruise tips are mandatory and charged separately) and our total spend was $4,370.  That covered our transportation cost, accommodations, food and entertainment for 19 days.  That comes to $230 per day total. Well within our budget.  

Yes, we will use repositioning cruises again.

• July 14^th – Community Action Ventura
• July 20^th – Tri Club Social
• July 28^th – Unity to Spark Change

• $2,500 to Aut2Run
• $2,500 to Ronald McDonald Walk for Kids

• Feb. – 10 Kevin Clerici – Downtown Ventura Partners
• Feb. – 17 Social The Garage – 6:00 Mexican food from Karina’s, next door
  1091 Scandia Ave. Ventura
• Feb. – 22 Board Meeting 5:30 Poinsettia Pavillion
• Feb. -24 Madhu Bajah – Ventura Education Partnership
• Feb. – 27 Mardi Gras Ventura South – Tower Club 3-7pm $ 75.00 each
• March 3 OFF SITE MEETING – Pacific High School Farm – Joe Bova
• April 24 – Aut2Run   Join Gavin’s team..(Ashley’s Team) or if you want to earn the Autism Society an additional $300 join Team Fun With HR! Learn more @  Aut2Run.org https://www.aut2run.org/RaceGroups/2323/Groups/1041436 or http://bit.ly/FunWithHR

• Feb. – 3 Valentines for Non-Profits
• Feb. – 10 Kevin Clerici Downtown Ventura Partners
• Feb. – 17 Social The Garage – 6:00 Mexican food from Karina’s, next door
  1091 Scandia Ave. Ventura
• Feb. – 22 Board Meeting 5:30 Poinsettia Pavillion
• Feb. – 24 Madhu Bajah Ventura Education Partnership
• Feb. – 27 Mardi Gras Ventura South – Tower Club 3-7pm $ 75.00 each
• March 3 – OFF SITE MEETING – Pacific High School Farm – Joe Bova
• April 24 – Aut2Run   Join Gavin’s team..(Ashley’s Team) or if you want to earn the Autism Society an additional $300 join Team Fun With HR! Learn more @  Aut2Run.orghttps://www.aut2run.org/RaceGroups/2323/Groups/1041436 or http://bit.ly/FunWithHR

• Jan. – 27 -  Bill Ayub – Ventura County Sheriff
• Jan. – 28-30 District Conference  CANCELED
• Feb. – 3 Valentines for Non-Profits
• Feb. – 10 Kevin Clerici – Downtown Ventura Partners
• Feb. – 17  Social
• Feb. 24 - Madhu Bajaj – Ventura Education Partnership
• March 3 – OFF SITE MEETING – Pacific High School Farm – Joe Bova

• Bruce McGee sold the most cases this year!
• Runner up in sales was Carin Kally.
• Margarida Eidson passed around the sign up sheet for Families.

• Nov. 18 – Social  Vaquero Y Mar  (435 E. Thompson) 5:30
• Nov. 25 – Happy Thanksgiving
• Dec. 2 – Poinsettia plant delivery
• Dec. 4 – More Poinsettia plans to deliver

• October 18 – Board Meeting 5:30
• October 21 – Club Social Peirano’s  5:30 – 7:00  204 E. Main St.
• October 25 – World Polio Day
• October 28 – Kevin Brannon from Reel Anglers Outdoors
• Nov. 4- Amy Baily from Ventura Family YMCA
• Nov.  11 – Joe Strohman  Member Interview
• Nov. 18 – Social  Yaquero Y Mar  (on Thompson)
• Nov. 25 – Happy Thanksgiving

• August 16 – NO BOARD MEETING
• August 19 – 3^rd Thursday – Social...Winchesters on Main Street 5:30
• August 22 – Puzzle Competition
• August 26 – Grace Hrabak – Service Project to Ethiopia
• September 2 – T. B. A.
• September 9 – Robin Hutton Animals in War and Peace

• August 12 – District Governor Dana Moldavan
• August 14 – Saturday 10:00 am. Fill backpacks….1838 Thompson Blvd. Ventura
• August 16 – Board Meeting 5:30pm Jeff Burg’s office
• August 19 – 3^rd Thursday – Social...Winchesters on Main Street 5:30
• August 22 – Puzzle Competition
• August 26 – Grace Hrabak – Service Project to Ethiopia
• September 2 – T. B. A.

• July 29 – Jim Duran….City Center
• August 5 – Beverly Ward….Rubicon
• August 12 - YMCA
• August 13, 14, & 15 Usher in Ojai for Rubicon
• August 14 –Fill the Backpacks
• August 16 Board Meeting…Jeff Burghs office 5:30
• August  19^th – Dark…Winchesters on Main Street 5:30
• August 22 - Puzzle Competition
• August 26 – Grace Hrabak..Ethiopia Missionary work

• Rich Stewart spoke about ushering for Rubicon at Villanova Prep.
• Downtown has asked for help with the backpack project on August 14^th. More information to follow.
• Group 7 is also doing a backpack project in conjunction with the NFL and Big Brothers Big Sisters

                      

• President Cal gave everyone a 4-Way Test coin.
• Fundraisers for the upcoming year:
• Poinsettia Sales
• Need to find a 2^nd fundraiser and need community projects.
• We will be implementing a mentorship program for new members.

• June 24^th – DARK
• June 25^th District Awards and Year-End Celebration
• June 26^th – 57^th Annual Service Above Self Recognition Banquet
• July 1^st – Cal Magro – President 2021, 2022
• July 8^th – Nurses Scholarships
• July 15^th – Social on the Rotary Plaza at the Ventura Botanical Gardens
• July 22^nd – Jeff Moorhouse – Angel Flight
• July 29^th - City Center

• June 17^th – 4 Way Test luncheon
• June 21^st – Board Meeting
• June 24^th - DARK
• June 26^th – 57^th Annual Service Above Self Recognition Banquet
• July 1^st – Cal Magro
• July 8^th – Nurses Scholarships
• July 15^th – Social on the Rotary Plaza at the Ventura Botanical Gardens
• July 22^nd – Jeff Moorhouse – Angel Flight

• June 10^th – Rafael 100^th Birthday Celebration
• June 17^th – 4 Way Test luncheon
• June 21^st – Board Meeting
• June 24^th - DARK
• June 26^th – Step down for Jeff B and Margarida

• May 27^th –    Sheriff Bill Ayub
• June 3^rd –      Evan Hillgemann – JPL – on the Perseverance Mars Rover
• June 10^th –    Rafael Canton 100^th Birthday Celebration
• June 17^th –    4 Way Test presentation
• June 21^st –    Board Meeting
• June 24^th –    Dark
• June 26^th –    Step Down for both Presidents, Jeff Burgh and Margarida Eidson at 5:00pm in parking lot of the Poinsettia Pavilion

• May 27th - Sheriff Bill Ayub
• June 3^rd  - Evan Hillgemann – JPL – on the Perseverance Mars Rover
• June 10^th - Rafael Canton 100^th Birthday Celebration
• June 17^th  - 4 Way Test presentation
• June 21^st  - Board Meeting
• June 24^th - Dark
• June 26^th - Step Down for both Presidents, Jeff Burgh and Margarida Eidson at 5:00pm in parking lot of the Poinsettia Pavilion

• June 17^th 4 Way Test award winners will be here.
• July 7^th – Bob Pazen Nursing recipients
• June 2^nd – Foodshare

• May 6^th –      Clint Garman Feed 805
• May 13^th –    1^st live meeting at the Pavilion in the large room
• May 17^th –    Board Meeting
• May 20^th –    Scholarship distribution meeting in the large room
• May 27^th –    Sheriff Bill Ayub
• June 3^rd –      Evan Hillgemann – JPL Perseverance Mars Rover
• June 10^th –    Rafael Canton 100^th Birthday Celebration
• June 17^th –    4 Way Test
• June 21^st –    Board Meeting
• June 24^th –    Dark
• June 26^th –    Step Down 4pm parking lot of the Poinsettia Pavilion

• April 3 Kids & Families Together event
• April 8 – Amy Towner
• April 15 – Matt Lavere
• April 17 – District Training Assembly
• April 22 – Angie Brinkhoff
• April 24 – 25 – Aut2run
• April 25 – Walk for Kids

• 4 Way Test essay contest is ongoing.
• April 8^th we will be interviewing Bruce McGee.
• We had about 50 pairs of socks donated to the Rotaract Sock it too me event! Good job everyone!

• Rotaract Sock it too me
• March 11 – Dr Rice
• March 11 – Blood Drive at the Pavilion
• March 15 – Board Meeting
• March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day Social @ 5:00
  • Menu is prepared pick up at the Pavilion
  • Sampler of Topa Topa Beer is additional
• March 18 – Dark
• March 25 – Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation
• April = 8 – Amy Towner
• April 24 – 25 – Aut2Run
• April 25 – Family Room Walk

• March – Rotaract Soc it Too me
• March 4 Assistant City Manager taling about Water Rates
• March 11 Dr Rice
• March 11 Blood Drive
• March 15 Board Meeting
• March 17 St Patrik’s day social
• March 18 Dark
• March 25 Corey & Brittany – Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation
• April 24 – 25 Aut2Run
• April 25 Family Room Walk

• February 16 – Board Meeting
• February 18 – Sharon Daly- Mossyfoot Foundation
• February 25 – Steve Eidson – FBI
• February 26 Mossy Foot Fundraiser
• March 4 – Dr Rice – VUSD

• Foundation Board meeting Feb 9
• Feb 11 Beverly Critcher of Wildlife Experience Safaris
• Feb 16 Board Meeting
• Feb 18 Sharon Daly - Mossy Foot
• Feb  Mossy Foot Drive through fundraiser
• April 24-25 Aut2Run
  Here is the link to sign up to walk/run with Gavin’s Team: https://runsignup.com/RaceGroups/2323/Groups/888636
  Here is the link to donate to Gavin’s Team:
   https://runsignup.com/gavinsteam
• April 25 Ronald McDonald Family Room Walk

• February 11^th – Beverly Critcher – Wildlife Experience Safaris
• February 16^th – Board Meeting
• February 18^th – Sharon Daly – Mossy Foot
• April 25^th - Mark your calendars for the virtual Walk for Kids fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald Family Room at VCMC
• April 24^th and 25^th - Will be the virtual Aut2Run fundraiser for the Autism Society of Ventura County

• Jan 27 – Foodshare Distribution
• Jan 28 – VPD Chief
•                 - Wade is doing another presentation
• Feb 11 – Wildlife Safari

• January 21 – Spencer Burke, National Park Service
• January 28 – Darin Scindler, Ventura Police Chief
• February 4 – Derek Poultney, Ventura Land Trust
• February 11 – Beverly Critcher – Wildlife Experience Safaris
• February 16 – Board Meeting

• 1/14 – Our speaker will be P.D.G. Wade Nomura
• 1/18 - Board Meeting
• 1/21 - Spencer Burke - National Park Service
• 1/28 - Derek Poultney - Ventura Land Trust

• Next week Caroline… Coalition for Family Harmony
• 12/17 - Virtual Christmas Party
• 12/24 - Dark
• 12/31 - Dark

• 11/19 – Meeting will be at 6:30 pm. Ken Berman will be speaking about Millenials
• 11/26 – Dark
• 12/3 – David Endaya – Ventura City Fire Chief

• Thank you for everyone who came out to help with the drive through Trick or Treat.
• Especially thank you to Ashley for organizing and everyone else who came out.
• Virtual District Conference this the weekend. Bruce took a few moments to discuss the breakouts and topics. Saturday from 9 – 10 the RI PEN will be speaking, Jennifer Jones.
  • 11/12 – Veteran’s Day program & Mission Fish
  • 11/19 – Third Thursday Zoom meeting with Ken Berman speaking about millennials
  • 11/26 – Dark
  • 12/3 – Ventura Fire Chief David Endaya
• We need sponsors for the opportunity drawing. Please let Sharon Daly know.
  • Cal donated a $50 gift card to somewhere for today.
• Roy Valdez filled us in on Poinsettia sales. Sales are starting to pickup so things are looking pretty good right now.

• 11/ 5 - Pier into the Future
• 11/6 – 8 District Conference
• 11/12 – Veteran’s Day Program & Mission Fish
• 11/19 – Ken Berman everything you needed to know about millennials
• 12/3 – Ventura Fire Chief David Endaya

• For members that are not Rule of 85 you are paying for your meals, unless you opted out, so if you do not want to pay for meals notify President Margarida or Todd
• October 29^th – Call for Polio Eradication
• November 5^th – Pier into the Future
• November 6 - 8 Virtual District Conference
• November 12^th – Veteran’s Day Program.

• Amber has made a contact at the school district that will work with us.
• Amber also reported that November 16 – 21 is Rotary grateful week. 

• Working on the 4 Way test essay contest.
• Need nominations for employee of the quarter.

• Oct 15 – Zoom Scattegories
• Oct 22 – Botanical Gardens
• Oct 29 – Polio Eradication
• District Conference

• Next week is Scategories. 6:30 -  Watch out for the Zoom links
• 9/21 Board meeting 5:30
• 9/24 Michelle Hubbard – Leadershp, Love with a spine
• The flyers for Poinsettia sales are out. This is our opportunity to make some money for the club.

• August 12^th – Blood drive at the Pavilion. If you would like to sign up go to Blood4life.org
• August 13^th  - Anthony Kaspari Ventura Spirits
• August 16^th  - Virtual Aut2Run. Aut2run.org
• August 20^th – Rotary Bingo 6:30 –
• August 27^th – Marlys Auster, Ventura Tourism Bureau

• The menu for dinner is Cesar Salad, Chicken Marsala, Risotto, Peach cobbler!
• DG Deb Linden is our guest next week
• Bloodbank 10 – 2 August 12 -  Bloodforlife.org
• August 16^th – Virtual Aut2Run
• August 20^th – Zoom Bingo
• August 27 – Marlys Auster – Visit Ventura

1. We will not be up grading for the foreseeable future.
2. 6 Criteria the state looks at to determine if you can move forward or not
   1. We are red on 2 of 6. Availability of ICU beds and case rate/100,000
3. Rental relief provide $2,500 to people who are unable to pay rent.
4. Business loan program. 2^nd round is starting. You must have registered before the 1^st round to be eligible. 1^st round recipients will be notified by July 31 so they can have the check by August 12^th.

• Board meeting July 13^th at 5:00 at Margarida’s office.
• Zoom Jeopardy on July 16^th at 6:30!
• July 23^rd – Scholarship presentations to returning scholarship recipients.
• August 6^th – D.G. Deb Linden’s official visit
• August 16^th – Virtual Aut2Run
• August 20^th – Virtual Bingo

• Next week our speaker will be Tammy Duff from Gabriel’s House.
• Board meeting will be June 15^th this month.
• Tonight’s dinner, let Jeff know. Meatloaf with scalloped potatoes and other good stuff.
• Pizzaman Dan canned protein food drive is still ongoing.
• Step down dinner is being postponed for now. We will have it when we can meet together.
• Jordan Eller is in Hawaii and will be there through August.

• June 9^th will be going to Board of Supervisors to award contract. RMFC wrote a check for $1.2 million to go forward with the project.
• Construction to start in about 6 – 8 weeks with completion late fall.
• There will be naming opportunities for the Family Room

• Board meeting this Monday at 5:30
• Tonight’s dinner at the Pavilion! Margarida said the dinner will be delicious!
• Next week’s program will be President Jeff presenting the Governor’s 3-point plan to reopen the state.
• President Jeff is looking for additional programs.

1. Stay in Place
2. Maintain your space
3. Cover your face
   1. Bandana/Neck Gaiter/homemade
   2. NOT N954 or Surgical Masks

• Next week is a craft talk
• Monday 10^th board meeting
• Feb 20^th meeting is at Peking Restaurant
• Feb 22^nd Rise up against Hunger event. Cal Magro showed what the packets would look like.

• 2^nd Annual Puzzle competition is scheduled for April 19^th from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm.
• April 5^th Ronald McDonald walk for kids